To Be Free
by Aeris Ultimavara
Summary: Rottenella may have only been a doll, but her feelings for Robbie were real. Oneshot


To Be Free  
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

**Disclaimer:** I don't own LT or it's characters. I don't own the song lyrics either. They're from "Doll on a Music Box," which is featured in the film _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang._

**Note:** Just to let everyone know, I couldn't remember the exact dialogue from the "Dancing Duel" episode, so I just wrote the gist of what I remembered Robbie saying, and I also used some of what is said in the German dub, like the "prima donna" line. (It was the only version I could find on YouTube.) So if the words here are different from the ones in the show, you know why.

* * *

_What do you see,  
You people gazing at me?  
You see a girl on a music box  
That's wound by a key._

The purple ballerina stood on the stage, one arm arced demurely over her head. Her eyes flicked over to _him_, hoping he would notice how graceful her pose was. Many strange people were watching her, but there was only person whose good opinion she wanted - her master, Robbie Rotten. He, who had made her human, even if only half so. After all, her life was still dependent on a wind-up key. Oh! The key! She could feel it slowing to a stop! As it did, her arm fell, her eyes closed, and she slumped over sideways. What would Robbie think of her now, when she couldn't even get started without a wind-up? She hoped she hadn't disappointed him.

_How can you tell  
I'm under a spell?_

"Her name is Rottenella," was the first thing she heard as she came back from her unconciousness. It was Robbie's voice. He had wound her back up himself, and he didn't sound disappointed at all. And not only that, but he had given her a name. Oh, what a kind master she had! She would repay his kindness. She would make him proud. And maybe even make him feel something more - love. For Rottenella was in love with him, even if she was too innocent to recognize that was what she feeling.

She started her dance as she had started her life, with simple ballet steps. For that was what she had been before she went through Robbie's machine - a simple girl who had been content to twirl on her music box, never knowing anything of the outside world. But when she came out the other side, and found herself full-size, she opened her eyes and saw a sight that would change her forever - her tall, dark benefactor staring back at her in amazement. He reached forward to lift her from the conveyor belt, and she felt a strange thrill when he put his arms around her waist. But heretofore being a minature doll, she didn't know what to make of it. So when he set her down, she simply watched him, trying to find out more about him, and about this feeling that he gave her. How funny he looked, scrambling to and fro like that. He passed out of her line of sight, but she didn't dare turn her head to follow him. She didn't want him to know she was watching him.

From behind her, she suddenly heard him cry out "Oh, my prima donna! With you I'm bound to win the contest."

At these words, she felt a tingly surge of warmth go through her. It was similar to the feeling she had earlier but not entirely the same. This new feeling was happiness. Happiness that she was his _prima donna_, what all ballerinas dream of being. But where other prima ballerinas belonged to a crowd they never knew, but she could belong to this one man, who would personally adore and admire her. From that moment on, she vowed to dance for him, and for him alone.

He was approaching her now, and feeling giddy with her newfound happiness, she decided to tease him a bit. She kept her placid pose in place until he was immediately in front of her, then stuck her foot out into his path. She giggled and broke into a smile as he fell and flailed around on the ground. But she quickly wiped it from her face when he turned to look questioningly at her. He seemed a little angry, so maybe now wasn't the best time for playing.

_I'm waiting for love's   
First kiss._

But now all his anger seemed to have faded away as he approvingly watched her dance. Rottenella kept her eyes only on him, hanging on his reaction to her every move. But who was that pink-haired girl beside him, and why was he talking to her? She, Rottenella, was his prima donna, so shouldn't he only pay attention to her? This was the was the first unpleasant feeling she had ever had, and it was called jealousy. Before this moment her life had only consisted of herself and Robbie, but now that someone else intruded into the picture, she was not happy at all. Suddenly she wanted to show that little pink creampuff exactly who was most worthy of Mr. Rotten's attentions Jutting her chin out, she sped up her music track and began to jump and twist, twirl and flip. She put all of her energy, all of her feelings into her moves. The wonder of seeing Robbie up close for the first time, the fluttering in her wind-up heart as he carried her, the pride she felt when he called her prima donna, the gratefulness for his giving her a name, and the anger she felt at Stephanie for taking his attention away.

All of these new, raw feelings made her dance more passionate and meaningful than any she had ever performed. Rottenella glanced Robbie's way, anxious to see if she was having an effect on him. When she saw him dancing happily, his eyes fixed on her, she sent a smug look at Stephanie before turning to the side to execute a final split.

When she landed, she looked out on the crowd, and shot her most brilliant smile at Robbie. She was gratified to see him beaming happily, and the little girl (whose name she didn't know) looking totally intimidated.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Robbie yelled, rushing past Stephanie as Rottenella rose to her feet. She had done it. She had made her master proud, and she was sure she had performed well enough to win the prize. But most importantly, she had secured her place in his attentions above all other people's. Content in this knowledge, she allowed her body time to rest, letting her gears decelerate their revolutions until they reached a halt. She could still hear Robbie cheering for her as her world went black.

_You cannot see  
How much I long to be free,  
Turning around on this music box  
That's wound by a key._

But the next thing Rottenella knew, she was back on the machine which had freed her from her music box, and Robbie was muttering about how she had failed him. Failed! It couldn't be true! She had danced her heart out, and as far as she knew, he was happy with her. So what could have happened between then and now? She looked in alarm at the transformer machine. If she had somehow failed her master, did that mean he no longer had a use for her and was sending her back to her old life?But didn't he see how much her new life had come to mean to her? Didn't he see how much _he_ had come to mean to her? She didn't want to go back if it meant being away from him.

For the first time in her short life, Rottenella wanted to speak. She tried to open her mouth to tell Robbie of her feelings, but found she couldn't do it. She tried to reach out to him, but her arms would not cooperate either. For she had not been wound up since her dance routine, and had no strength or energy to move at all.

_Yearning,_

Madly, she pleaded with him in her mind. "Please, Master. Don't be upset with me. "I did my best, and I did it all for you."

_Yearning..._

"Don't change me back. I want to be human, and I want to be with you."

But Robbie couldn't hear her silent cries, so he hit the switch which signalled the conveyor belt to start moving her backwards...

...To most people, she looked like nothing more than a tiny, twirling, purple ballerina. But in reality, she was now more than just the doll on the music box. Sh was Rottenella, who for one glorious day had experienced life as others lived it, replete with all the wonder, all the thrill, and all the pain of love. And now when she danced, it wasn't only because her gears were arranged to make her do so. She danced now for Robbie Rotten, as she had done on that shining day, her movements telling him what her lips could not.

But Robbie never noticed.

And so Rottenella was forced to love him in despair, trapped within the confines of her box, pining away, and sorrowfully

_...Turning around and around._


End file.
